Three Beverly fire officials and three members of the Beverly Department of Public Works responded to the scene at Dane and Lothrop streets about 7:18 a.m. after a concerned passerby reported hearing the ducklings in the sewer.

Fitzpatrick said the responders used hoses to flush the ducklings to a “central location” after they had scattered from the drain where they fell at Dane Street and Hopkins Avenue. Then they used a pool net, a bucket, and their hands to pull the ducklings out from the sewer.

“We were in multiple manholes at once,” Fitzpatrick said.

The mother duck left with the first two of the seven ducklings rescued, Fitzpatrick said. The other five were left in an open container with some onlookers who watched the rescue. Fitzpatrick said the animal control officer was on his way when the fire department left.

While Fitzpatrick said he had never responded to a situation like this, he said it “definitely happens” and has heard of other departments pulling ducks from sewers.

The rescue took approximately two hours, Fitzpatrick said, though he did not know how long the ducklings were in the sewer.

No roads were blocked during the rescue, though there was an official directing traffic, Fitzpatrick said.